


Sleep

by OptimisticEmotion



Series: State of Consciousness [1]
Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Bad Guy Sympathizing, Hallucinations, Kidnapping, Riddles, Sleep Deprivation, You won't beleive the Tags this thing is suggesting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-13
Updated: 2016-11-13
Packaged: 2018-08-30 16:50:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 16,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8541028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OptimisticEmotion/pseuds/OptimisticEmotion
Summary: Robin has just gotten back from a rough three day long mission with the Young Justice gang and is exhausted. So Batman figured that just this once he could let the boy sleep on the way home, right? Warning Rated T for Robin abuse and language! no slash. Short Chapters.





	1. The Riddle

**Author's Note:**

> I have this completed over on my Fanfiction account. With someone trying to rewrite it (with my permission) I figured it might be a good idea to start coping more of my stories over.

Batman came up to the exhausted heroes as they landed, finally back after going five days straight with little to no rest.

"You did good work today, hit the showers," Batman called out, that being the closest thing to a pep talk he could get. "Robin, the Zeta Tubes are down, I'm your ride home tonight." He called out to the youngest of the team.

The 14 year old gave a curt nod as he followed the males of his team to the boy's locker room. It had been about a year since the team started, and not much had changed in the least.

Robin came back out in a clean Robin Uniform, although he was slouching and dragging his feet a bit. Batman was about to get on his case for posture but stopped himself when said Boy Wonder couldn't stifle a large yawn. He had dealt with enough already.

"Let's get going." Batman said before heading for the Batmobile. The Dynamic Duo climbed in and started the long drive home. Not even Five minutes in, Robin was out in the passenger seat. Batman watched as his ward took deep, even breaths. It was usually only moments like this that Bruce remembered Dick was still just a child, and would on occasion kick himself for letting the boy into the life of crime fighting.

They had just pulled into Gotham when the older vigilante spotted the light in the sky. Weighing his options, Batman figured he could talk to the Commissioner, and see what the trouble was, take Robin home, and then deal with whichever bad guy was currently harassing his town.

Once Bats came close enough to CityHall, he pulled into an alley, quietly locked the doors and made his way to the roof top.

"Batman!" Gordon exclaimed, running up to the hero as the dark knight just landed.

"What seems to be the problem, Commissioner?" Batman inquired.

"It's Riddler. He sent this to our offices a few hours ago," Gordon explained waving around a sapphire blue envelope. "None of the boys could make heads nor tails of it, then again, no one really expected to." He handed the envelope over to Batman as he spoke.

The caped crusader opened it to reveal a riddle written neatly in black print on the same sapphire blue card.

**So cleverly hidden**

**When not in use**

**But I am all over Gotham**

**Many a foe has given**

**Me such great abuse**

**But dependable I still chase them**

**I need not Water**

**Nor air, Nor Food**

**Though my Fuel is no secret**

**After a time I grow hotter**

**Under my hood**

**And RIDDLER now has it!**

"What did you think it meant?" Batman asked, curious.

"To be honest, my first guess was you. That was, until, that part about not needing water," Gordon confessed.

"Then he practically gives away at the end that it's a vehicle of some kind," Batman muttered under his breath.

"How do you figure?"

Batman then pointed to the clues and quoted them aloud. "My FUEL is no secret,' and 'I grow hotter, under my hood'. That would be a vehicle of some kind. And going back to your thought before, you weren't too far off Commissioner," Batman claimed as he walked back toward the edge of the building.

"Oh? So what's the answer?" Commissioner Gordon asked.

"Riddler plans to attempt to Hijack the Batmobile." Batman grumbled as he disappeared.


	2. Birdnapped

Riddler had put everything in place when he watched Batman leave Gotham for Metropolis. He had sent the note to the police that afternoon knowing they would be witless enough to need the Batman's help, and then he posted two of his Riddlettes at each entrance to town. Once he got the confirmation that Batman was heading back into town, his minions were to follow and let the villain know where Batjerk parked. It was really too simple actually. Riddler almost wondered what would distract the big bad bat so badly that he would be so easy to track?

Riddler walked up to the black car with the electric blue accents, he frowned a little. He was off on the color when he made the puzzle for the cops. He was rather disappointed in himself. Riddler only gave himself a moment of chiding before he got started on his favorite part, the cracking of codes. And not just any codes either, no, these were BATcodes. Riddle smirked to himself. It took him about five minutes to find an outer fuse panel, and then fifteen more to disengage the alarm systems. The doors were still locked quite tightly, but he didn't have time to worry about those before Batman got back to protect his precious Batmobile.

As his men got the jacks ready, the one standing at the passenger side called the villain over. Riddler, curious, made his way to the minion, whom had a finger pressed to his twisted smile as he pointed through the window. Riddler pressed against it and cupped his eyes, and on the other side of the glass, pressed against the door, was a Robin sleeping soundly.

Riddler's face couldn't have become a wider grin had he been the Joker. This was perfect! He made a motion for the Riddlettes to hurry their work up as he practically skipped behind them.

The Batmobile, along with the tag along prize, was loaded into the back of a black moving truck. Riddler was quick to hush anyone who spoke too loud, not wanting to bother the sleeping birdie.

* * *

 

Batman had arrived just moments after the van drove off, and found both Robin and his Batmobile missing. Batman cursed himself for not dropping Dick off at the manor before going to the City Hall. Really his priorities were in loops and knots. How he couldn't see it was a trap was beyond him. Stupid and careless!

Batman started grappling toward the nearest Batcave entrance.

"Is the Batmobile lost to us, sir?" Alfred asked as Batman ran down the underground road.

"Not remotely funny, Alfred." Bruce slipped off the cowl and started to quickly type away at the computer. "Riddler made off with her, with Robin inside," He growled.

"Oh goodness!" Alfred exclaimed, "Can you not send out the remote return signal?"

"Riddler has managed to completely shut it down somehow. I can't even get the tracer to activate." Bruce collapsed into the rolling chair behind him.

"The tracer on Robin's utility belt?"

"He doesn't have the right one on. He left his proper belt at Mount Justice, he's only wearing his training belt," Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose.

"What on God's green Earth did he do that for?" Alfred asked, already on edge.

"Because he was tired and didn't pay attention. I doubt he even knew the car was being hijacked. If Riddler found him in there, then there is the possibility that he did everything he could to avoid waking Dick up." Bruce let out a sigh as he pulled his cowl back on and made a call to Watch Tower.

"Batman? What an unexpected surprise." Martian Manhunter answered.

"Where's Superman?" Batman asked.

"He is on planet Glackahume with Green Lantern. They are not expected to return until the end of the week," J'onn informed his friend.

"Wonder Woman?"

"She is back home to defend her people from a new threat upon her shores. She is not to be disturbed."

"Flash!?" Batman was getting irritated now, why is it the one time he needs them, they are ALL too busy for him.

"He is fighting Mirror Master in France, it is looking grim, I was about to suggest someone to his aid-"

"HawkWoman? GreenArrow? Black Canary, someone dammit!" Batman was all but screaming now.

"Batman, what has happened, are you in trouble?" Manhunter sounded concerned, or as much as he could for being who he is. Bruce took a breath and calmed himself down.

"Just tell me who is available," He almost growled.

"I can spare, Captain Atom, Captain Marvel, ElongatedMan, Mr. Questio-"

"Forget it!" Batman slammed his hand on the closing screen so hard the systems rattled.

"Sir, can you really afford to be so picky about who helps you right now?" Alfred asked from behind him.

"Robin is being held hostage, if not already be killed!" Bruce shouted. "I need someone I can count on in the heat of it all, someone that we can trust if Robin's identity is reveled! But those people are currently busy, and in dangers of their own!" He sat back down and took another breath. "I sorry Alfred, I don't mean to snap at you." He looked away. He had to find away to get Robin home; and soon.

* * *


	3. Leadless

Robin hadn't even been dreaming, he was simply out stone cold. His state had only lasted the half hour after he fell asleep on their way to Gotham, and then the hour after it took for Riddler to finally get his hands on him from the safety of the Batmobile. Robin had still been asleep until he heard a loud, high-pitched squealing by his ear. He jolted almost fully awake when the door gave and he fell to the floor at the feet of the Riddler. He was pretty sure it wasn't a nightmare, because then he'd probably be facing someone a little more terrifying; such as Joker, or BlackMask; Not one of the wimpier villains such as the Riddler. Robin could beat him with his arms tied behind his back.

Heck, he did once already! Confident, Robin quickly got to his feet. "Aw, disturb your little nap time did we?" Riddler smirked.

"You actually took the whole car in kidnapping me? Gosh, I'm flattered," Robin mumbled, still a bit groggy.

"Actually, our goal was the car, you, buddy bird, are no more then the happy surprise we found inside." Riddler pointed his staff at Robin.

"And you think you're winning because?" Robin smirked.

Riddle leaned against his cane and toward Robin a little, looking completely at ease, "That would be because you, dear boy, can't even stand straight." He chuckled and stood up to give an example. Robin lashed out in a flash of anger and lunged at the green clad freak. Riddler took one step to the left to dodge and laughed harder at the boy.

"Grouchy, aren't we?"

"Shut up!" Robin shouted as he lunged again, this time throwing his whole body into it. Riddler used his staff to redirect the boy and sent him straight into the Batmobile. Robin made an 'oof' sound as he slammed into the metal surface and then fell to his knees. He was still too tired, still too weak, and all of this was just draining him of energy. He needed to start thinking smart.

"Giving up already?" Riddler almost frowned, as he walked up behind Robin. The boy counted the villains foot steps until he sounded close enough, Robin kicked out behind him, catching Riddler off guard and sending the baddie to the floor. Riddler growled, grabbed a hold of the back of Robin thigh, and dragged him close. The younger of the two masked figures started to thrash about weakly, but to no avail as Riddler was on top of his body, pinning him down.

"Sometimes I forget the rashness of youth." Riddler bent down and whispered harshly. "Laying down like this, does it make it harder for you to keep your eyes open?" He chuckled as Robin slowly stopped struggling. "Take him to the cage and make sure he doesn't fall asleep. I have no idea how he got this tired, but I'm not about to pass it up." Riddler stood quickly and headed to his own area, "Also, no one is to bother me as I prepare a new clue for our great detective!"

* * *

 

Batman was back out on the streets combing the area for any sign of Riddler. He had hit the Ice Pick, roughed up a few muggers, and had gone through every resource available to him. He had even tried calling Batgirl, but she was in Florida with a friend for the week taking a break from hero duty. She had insisted on taking a communicator with her just in case, but damn'it, Bruce had snatched it from Barbra's purse right before she left to make sure she didn't sneak it out. But now Batman was thinking, next time a sidekick opts. If they want to take a bit of work with them, let them.

Batman never gave up, he had started paying attention to his other duties while hunting down his ward's kidnapper. Hours had gone by, however, and although Batman stopped three muggings, two almost murders, and a bank robbery, he didn't once turn up a clue or a lead about Riddler's where about, and for that matter Robin's. He ended up going home late and tired.

"I took the liberty of canceling your brunch with Ms. Sanders. She was quite dejected until I informed her of Master Richard's fever, she seemed to have understood immediately and sends her best wishes to the young master." Alfred explained the cover story to his boss as Bruce sat back down at the computer screen.

"Good job Alfred." Bruce said in a monotone voice as his eyes never left the screen.

"Very good sir." Alfred said before making his way up the steps into the manor. Bruce pulled up a map of Gotham and started to cross places out. He was going to find Robin, if he had to gut all of Gotham to do it.


	4. Clues

Bars surrounded him. And there were two pathetic Riddlette's at each of the four sides. One looked in, the other looked out. The cage itself was slightly smaller then the ones at the Gotham Penitentiary, and it was perfectly square. There was a toilet, but no privacy or anything else for that matter. Not even toilet paper! But it had been a few hours since they tossed him in here, a few times he had laid on the floor or leaned against the bars, but the moment any of Riddler's minions thought that he was dosing, which usually he was, they would prod at him hard with their own staffs. He could feel a headache forming as his head grew heavy,... as well as his eyes, and body.

*prod*

"Wake up!" The nearest Riddlette shouted. The poke in the ribs was the hardest one yet, and Robin sat up, and pulled his knees to his chest.

"I'm awake, alright?" He grumbled. He wished he was back in the car safe next to Batman. Batman, that was something he couldn't figure out. For the past six hours he's been trapped in here, what the heck happened to his mentor? Batman was sitting right there next to him when he fell asleep. He had expected to be awoken immediately, but was grateful when the older let him drift. When he woke up he was still inside the Batmobile, but Batman was no where in site. A growl pulled him from his thoughts. Robin sighed. They hadn't given him any food either, the toilet was the most thoughtful thing Riddler had for him in the cage. The growl continued, and then pain followed.

"When's breakfast." Robin muttered, not really thinking he'd get an answer.

"Pipe down, will ya!" The guard to his left called.

"You guys are like, mini Riddlers, right? Do you guess like Riddles too?" Robin asked just in blatant despite for the guard.

"I said shut up," The guard called again.

"Dude, if you acknowledge it, it only makes it talk even more," The girl next to him stage whispered harshly.

"Gee, that's very nice of you," Robin muttered at her. But the two went back to pretending that he wasn't there, or that he didn't speak English. Or that he was a monkey in a red and black suite with a shiny gold belt. Which, he found to his dismay was nothing more than his training belt. This meant his pellets were all filled with nothing but light smoke, his bird-a-rangs were dull, and it didn't have a tracer on it since it never left the training room or his locker. What a time to get the two mixed up, huh? Robin found himself start rocking back and forth and tracing invisible pictures on the concrete floor, it didn't even have enough dust for him to make a drawing. Of all the times Robin had been held hostage, this had to be the most boring of them all.

* * *

 

Bruce had to get into a formal, non-bat related suite to visit with the senior partners for Drake Industries. He couldn't use his 'sick' son as an excuse to get out of it, and so Bruce Wayne had to take a bit of Batman's time. So half way through the meeting, tired and worried, Bruce paid attention to only half of what was said, then again, he had already researched all of Drake's dealings, he knew he was going to accept this proposal a week ago. But this was a formality and thus sat Bruce Wayne as the Drake Industries adviser went on and on about the same thing for the next four minutes.

Suddenly something flew down the window. Everyone in the office noticed and were starting at the glass panels that held a breath taking scenery of Gotham bay. Just as everyone about dragged their attention back to the speaker, a few more came down, and that's when Bruce saw the lines, whoever was jumping had a bungy attachment as they fell. All the men in the conference room rushed to the window and watched as a huge group of Riddlettes started to paint graffiti all over his building.

Bruce's first worry was Robin, then his second was his identity, then his third was for the people in the room with him. Thinking logically, Bruce saw that the minions were painting a message, most likely another riddle, another clue. He also realized that Riddler probably chose Wayne Industries because it was the tallest sky scraper, and close to the center or Gotham too.

"Mr. Checkozlick, I'm sorry, but perhaps we can reschedule?" Bruce suggested. There was a round of agreements throughout the room as everyone left and got away from the windows. When the minions left, Bruce made his way out side to see Commissioner Gordon and Detective Branson.

"My word, Bruce, what's happened here?" Gordon asked as he stared up at the criminals' work. "I have no idea, Jim." Bruce answered as he also inspected the damaged. The bright emerald green paint read:

 **A BIRD WHO STEALS SITS IN A CAGE,** **HOW LONG CAN IT STAY AWAKE?**

"A bird who steals, huh?" Detective Branson muttered, "Well, there was a bird just the other day that stole my sandwich. Maybe he's the culprit behind the Riddler's plots!"

"Don't be ridiculous. Bruce, I'm afraid we're going to need access to the roof of your building." Commissioner Gordon looked to Wayne.

"Of course Jim, I'll let all my employees know to give you full cooperation." The billionaire nodded back at the Man.

That after noon he went home early and Batman went straight to work.

"A bird who steals? Master Bruce?" Alfred looked over to the hero.

"A Robin. Riddler is letting me know that he has Dick. But that last part." Bruce muttered as he sat in front of the large computer systems in the cave, and an image of Wayne Industries with the graffiti was frozen on each one of them.

"How long can it stay awake?" Alfred read aloud. "You don't suppose Riddler's mad enough to use sleep deprivation on a 14 year old?"

"With any of the villains here in Gotham, I wouldn't out it past any of them to treat Robin worse then a fully grown, fully armed, military man. They have little to no compassion as it is, and since Robin is one of the fundamental keys to their down falls, I think we should be happy to learn that Riddler intends to keep him alive; for now." Bruce deduced.

"If only to torture the poor boy. What can we do?" Alfred exclaimed.

"I need a team. I need people I can trust to help me find where Riddler is keeping Robin and rescue him." Bruce closed out of the riddle on one of the smaller screens.

"But sir, I've recently checked, most the league is scattered doing very important things as is. I heard Flash is in decommission after he just barely defeated Mirror Master and escaped with his life, Martian Manhunter has gone to help Wonder Woman, a bit under disguise of another gender, and Superman and Green lantern are still out of the solar system for another expected four days." Alfred informed his boss.

"Then I suppose that leaves us with one other option." Bruce pulled his cowl on and started for the outside exit of the cave.

"Sir?"

"They've had their rest. I'm calling in Robin's team."


	5. Team

Wally was laying on the couch next to where Artemis was reading a book about some guy who dress up in green, shot arrows a lot, and was always there for those in need. Or course she was reading 'Robin Hood'. The two were in an almost perfect silence as the cartoon the speedster was watching was turned down low, his thoughts plagued by his mentor who was currently in a medical bay in Watch Tower.

"Recognizing Red Arrow b***," the Zeta Tube's had a glitch again working just barely enough to let the archer through before shutting down. He paid it no mind as he walked straight to Wally.

"Turn to the news, now," Roy ordered, not giving them a chance to even stand up. Wally did as he was instructed, sitting up straight as he did.

"Gotham?" Artemis asked, "I don't get it, isn't that Batman's turf?"

"Not just that, pause it there," He pointed, and the screen froze on Wayne Industries.

"I don't get it. It's Riddler. That's a Bat thing. Robin and Bats are probably working on it now," Wally asked confused. "What's the fuss?"

"Read the riddle," Roy all but growled at him.

"A bird who steals is in a cage, how long can it stay awake?" Artemis read. "I don't get it."

"It's a riddle I heard all the time as a kid," Roy explained. "What do you call a bird who steals?"

"A thief?" A new voice came in as Connor and Megan walked in.

"A robin," Roy corrected.

"I don't get it," Wally admitted as he scratched the back of his neck.

"It's a pun!" Megan exclaimed proudly, "Someone who steals is a 'Robber' so a bird that steals is a 'Robin.'"

"So, then the riddle reads, 'A robin is in a cage, how long can it stay awake?' So you think Robin is in danger?" Artemis asked him.

"I don't think, I know. I came by to get you guys, and then to call Batman," Roy explained.

"No need to," A dark voice came from the shadows behind him.

"Batman?" Connor asked as the tall vigilante walked into the light, towering over them.

"I didn't hear the Zeta tubes." Roy looked half shocked, still surprised of the Bat's entrance.

"I flew with the Batjet. The Zeta tubes are down, or should be," Batman glared at Roy who had possibly just broke the already touchy machines even more with his arrival.

"So what about Robin?" Wally stood up.

"He was abducted the night you all came back from Bulgaria. I haven't been able to find any leads, and trust me when I say, I looked," Batman growled. Every member knew what that meant. Riddler was pulling out all the stops to keep underground. The fact that Batman had to call in for back up spoke volumes for how hard this guy was working to remain hidden.

"So how can we help?" Megan asked.

"I know the Riddler. He's going to send more riddles and try to lead me to my own demise in some way. He's very adamant about letting others do his dirty work. However, that just means with a team, I can make sure to strike next time his people try another stunt like this. With just one of them, we can then find where Riddler is hiding, and with that, where he's keeping Robin." As Batman finished up his explanation he motioned for them to follow him as he lead them to the debriefing room. "You better get ready, because you will be very busy." Batman stressed 'very' with a scowl. The three of them all nodded as he continued telling them his plan.

* * *

Robin couldn't feel his face. It had gotten to the point where he was making weird faces, poking at his cheek, rubbing his face in his hands, but it really felt numb. A couple of the guards had turns to watch him, snickering every once in a while as Robin started to really feel the effects of not sleeping properly in the past week or so, and then not at all really for a day. Every once in a while he'd feel a burst of energy, which would turn out to be a lie as he'd stand up only to crumble to his knees. So now he was sitting with his knees pulled to his chest in the center of the cage, making faces. He would also have periods where he'd just talk nonstop, but it didn't annoy the guards anymore as whatever was coming out of his mouth seemed amusing enough to warrant his continued ranting. But then he'd tire out and shut up after a while. He couldn't remember a thing he said in those little rambling sessions in the least.

Robin managed to pull his focus together enough to actually look around the outside of the cage, but it was mostly just white walls and concrete floors. There were three doors, four if you counted the fact that one of them was a double door. But Robin had yet to conclude that debate with himself so he stuck to saying that there were three to four doors in the room. It was a lot bigger than the cage was, which was set nearer to the wall adjacent to two of the doors, or three, again if you counted the double doors. But the last one was dead straight in front of him. So when the Riddler came into the well lit room, Robin could tell. Well, almost, his vision was starting to blur a bit here and there so it could have just been a really sick Riddlette.

"How is the boy?" He asked one of the guards.

"He's holding up. He's tired, obviously, but from what Calisa says, he'll be fine for another day or so before it becomes too bad of a health problem," The man dutifully informed.

"Calisa?" Riddler looked confused. "The psychiatric that you had sent a bit ago, sir," The man explained.

"Oh, the minion that said she had medical training, I see. You should know by now I don't bother with names." The Riddler smirked before walking up to the cage. Robin looked right at him and tried to glare, but with a tired and numb face it probably made him look like he was stoned out of his mind. "Don't worry little birdie, we don't want you dead. I'm taking every precaution to insure things all go according to plan."

"Batman'll stop you," Robin slurred a little as he spoke, and his voice was too soft for it to sound anymore then a mere hope.

"Did you not hear me? I'm taking 'every' precaution," Riddler chuckled as he left the room.

Robin sighed. "Really though, I'm bored, anyone want to hear a riddle?"


	6. Set Up

The Young Justice team were all in Gotham. Batman had split them up into pairs as he didn't seem to trust them by themselves in the large city. He also gave them each an area to watch after, breaking the city up more. They were only allowed to leave an area if the bad guy they were chasing at the time left the area. They got into position with little complaint. He stressed that this was only for the first night as he was going to be busy finding clues for Riddler. The next night they were all to get ready for a covert mission using the intel Batman used the first night to find. The groups were paired Aqualad with M'gann, Red Arrow with Wally, and Superboy with Artemis. Batman had also spoken with the commissioner before hand letting him know the situation, without revealing the temporary loss of one Boy Wonder.

The night had gone fairly simple at first as Batman went through a few of his own, connections, one of them finally lead him to Riddler's recruiting center. It was a shut down library in Crime Alley, a few scorch marks told him that there had been a fire at one point. He made sure to not go inside but to instead watch from the windows. He couldn't see much though and relied mostly on what he heard. He then head back to the batcave and started the more boring part of research. He needed those kids as ready as possible.

* * *

 

Riddler went over his new plan. After all, the old one was to simply hijack the batmobile and us it to frame Batman for a few heinous crimes and hope he'd be too ashamed to show his animalistic face in Gotham ever again. However, with the arrival of his newest little ticket, something so simple just wouldn't do! Now he was going to use the boy as leverage, keep Batsy busy with trying to find the little bird that he neglects Gotham. Thus causing Batman to then chose between his teen sidekick or his beloved city. If Batman chose Robin, then he'd take Gotham City and watch it crumble in his hand. If the hero chose the great city over the life of one insignificant boy, then Riddle would make quite the show of killing the little bird himself. Oh it'd be a quick episode of course. He's not an idiot! He would have to kill the boy fast before the Batman had a chance to come to the rescue, and reducing his threat void. Either way, this meant he'd have to keep the boy wonder alive until that time came. And thus his reason for going to check on the little bird.

"Riddler sir!" The Minion in charge of the squad watching the little Houdini acknowledged him. Looking into the cage, Riddler could see the boy lying on his back, head rocking from side to side.

"Are you certain he's awake?" He demanded. The guard nodded.

"We've started a new rule that he has to keep talking, it's been interesting to say the least. But he'll sometimes get quiet like this, we've been dumping ice water on his face when he does. Prodding stopped working hours ago." Riddler looked through the bars, the boy was damp, he could see his lips moving slightly but couldn't hear what the boy was muttering. But over all the boy didn't look well in the least. He was probably in some serious need for rest, but if Riddler allowed that, then he'd have a strong, capable little hero on his hands! And we just can't have that!

"Very good. I shall leave him in your care them Jeffery," Riddler said off handed as he turned around.

"Um, that's Jacob, Sir," The minion corrected.

"Like I care to learn your names? Oh, that reminds me. If you feel the need, go ahead and have Cortney take another look at him, make sir he doesn't die on us."

"Uh, Cortney, Sir?" The Minion asked confused.

"The Psychiatric that checked him when he arrived about, what, two days ago," Riddler explained.

"Oh, Calisa," The minion informed.

"Again, like I care?" Riddler moaned as he left the cell block.

When Riddler left Jacob looked back to his prisoner. The boy, Robin, looked to have almost passed out again, he nodded at the woman across from him, Sandy, to dump the bucket of ice cold water through the bars. She grinned wide and got the boy's whole body with her toss. Robin did little more the gasp at the sudden rush of cold that was probably seeping into his bones. The icy water was quickly losing it's effectiveness faster then the prodding. But after he was done gasping for air, he started talking again, mumbling really, but they could hear his words just fine. A few times he would slip and reveal something about himself. Such as, he was thirteen, no more or less, at least until November eleventh, tragically. Not nearly as tragic as what happened to his parents. Robin didn't say much about them, only that they had fallen to their deaths from very high up, and that he was taken in by Batman afterwards. Which actually explained quite a bit.

Now he was asking around about something.

"What are you going on about, Kid?" Jacob asked.

"I was hoping I wasn't the only on who could see those lights, they like a lot like butterflies, but, more feathery, and transparent." And great, now he's hallucinating.

"You know, they say that when you hallucinate, what you see is your spirit animal," one of the guys at the back of the cage mentioned.

"But they don't look like animals." Robin scrunched up his face, "More like weird feathery insects that glow."

"Maybe that's because you're such a pest," Sandra sneered. But even her insults have died to a half hearted comment every once in a while.

Robin chuckled lightly. "Ya think?"

"What color is it?" The other woman, Kylie asked.

"There's five of them. And they're all different colors. That big one, the first one I saw, it's blue. And that second one is red. The third biggest is like a yellow-ish gold color. And then that third one is purple."

"Fourth one," Jacob corrected with a small smile.

"Hu?" Robin looked at him confused.

"You said 'third' twice."

"Oh," Robin chuckled again, "Opps." Jacob gave him a nod to continue.

"Well, the forth one is purple, and then last one is green." He pointed to the thin air, his arm swaying slightly as if it was following something. "The green one is really small, and it keeps close to the blue one alot. But it also keeps picking on the gold one. The purple one likes to keep close to the gold one though, and chases off the green one all the time. The red one is the meanest, it just keeps hurting the other four," Robin explained. The minions just stood there listening to the boy wonder's rant about the weird colored birds. Jacob could only see the young boy looking at little strangely colored robins. It just fit too well.


	7. IQ

"So you and your younger brother don't get along?"

"Nah. He was always the family favorite, the special child. But it's not big deal, after all, it just means that I didn't have to worry about what my mommy would think about this life. The bitch doesn't even call any more ya know?"

"Oh! Oren, tell the brat how you got back to the jerk!"

"Ah, it was no big deal."

"Really? What was it?"

"I hacked his bank account and wiped him clean. He pulled some back up funds out of fucking no where, but hell, I was set for a good five years."

Robin was sitting near one of the back corners talking to Sandra and Oren. The guards, although seriously lacking in the morals department, weren't really all that bad. They had taken to calling Robin 'the brat' but it had no bite and they were warming up to him easily. He wasn't purposefully schmoozing them, he was way too tired, but it was something to do, and the conversations helped to keep his brain busy enough that it didn't hurt so bad. Well, it still hurt, but it was no longer the only thing he had to focus on.

"Sandy, did you also have siblings?" Robin asked the once bitter woman.

"Yeah. But they aren't nearly so bad. Hell, I send a bit of my check each month to help support the trolls. None of them are old enough to get an actual job and my father is a drunk. So they rely heavily on it," She explained.

"What about your mother?" Robin asked.

"She disappeared after popping Joey out. She just packed her bags and left." Sandra shrugged as if it was the most common thing on the planet to be walked out on by some you depended on.

"So how'd you guys find Riddler anyway? Was there an ad for minions in the paper I missed or something?" Robin dared ask, completely innocently to be honest.

"Don't answer that," Jacob warned from the front.

"Sorry," Robin called back.

"So kid, do you see any more little feathery butterflies?" Zeb, the other guy at the back of the cage asked, he was also the one who suggested that the hallucinations were his spirit animals.

"Nah, they faded hours ago. But I keep seeing something out of the corner of my eye," He admitted.

"Is that why you keep glancing that way?" Oren asked. "Yeah. I keep expecting to see some one, but they aren't there. It's been a bit frustrating to be honest."

"Think it's Batman?" Jacob asked.

"Nah, it's got too much orange for it to be Batman. It doesn't matter," Robin shrugged.

"Yeah, guess not," Jacob concurred.

"Hey, Zeb, what's your story?" Robin changed the topic.

* * *

 

Wally, Artemis, Megan, Konnor, and Roy were all unmasked and unarmed about to go into a Riddlette Recruiting site. Kaldur who couldn't completely hide he wasn't human very well, had to stay and prepare as back up. The other five got ready for their undercover mission, keeping to their teams, except Megan who found herself on her own as Aqualad had been her partner earlier. Roy and Wally had decided to pretend to be old friends from the slums of Gotham and found a great get rich quick scheme to try together. Artemis and Konnor had ended up going with the less believable 'we don't really know each other but we found out that we both wanted to join' line. They were to head that way at different intervals, and were very likely to not see each other for a long while.

Wally and Roy went first, and made their way inside the Library. The moment they were about to enter through the doors, however, the boys were faced by a couple of guards, thanking Batman for warning them that this was part of what would happen, The boys stood their grounds, though Wally pretended to be a bit jumpy so that they could play gutsy friend nervous friend off each other.

"What do we have here?" One of the guards asked the other.

"New meat, I think. Are you hear for a joke?" the other asked. "Or are you here for the riddle?" the first one finished.

"You're a joke if you think we're dumb enough to choose anything other than a riddle," Roy sneered.

"Oh, this one's got spirit." The guard to their left laughed.

"Yeah, you're not going to last long at all, are ya kid?" The one to their right snickered. Roy bristled at being called 'kid' by someone obviously younger then himself. But he let it go, they needed inside.

"What about me?" Wally asked nervously, like a sacred guy who just heard his brave friend wouldn't last long.

"You? Hehee, better hope that you've got brains enough to get put in cybernetics kid, or you aren't going to see next week." Lefty snickered like his friend did at Roy.

"So how do we, um, how do we get in?" Wally asked.

"How do we get in' he says," Righty mocked him to his pal.

"Go on in kid, but better be quick on your feet!" Wally and Roy entered listening to the jeering taunts and laughter of the guards as they did.

They had to go through a dark hall before they found a set of double doors. Roy pushed them open to see a couple more riddlettes sitting behind a large desk with a few stacks of paper on them. There was a few regular people in a line that got split off into two different ones. There were a few more guards around the large room, weaving through the empty book shelves of the abandoned library. As they got in line, Wally noticed that once one was done with their paper work, they were taken to a back room with one of the Riddlettes.

After paying attention, he saw some coming out of the rooms looking triumphant, and others looking disheartened and humiliated. Those last ones were directed to the exit on the other side of the room, where the guards sneered at them and jeered at their stupidity. So Wally figured that meant the rooms in the back were where the IQ testing happened. When they came to the split in the line, they were forced to go into separate queues. They had to fill out a single form, which really only had them write their names, physical abilities, supposed IQ score, and a way to be contacted. Each member of their team had a fake email address to write down, ones that connected to an account Batman had set aside for this very mission.

After he finished filling the form out, the woman behind the table took a picture of him on an iPhone and sent him with a tall, black guy who lead him to one of the rooms.

"So your name's 'Carter Mondungous'?" The riddlette asked.

"Uh, yeah, most just call me 'Cart' though." Wally tried to keep his 'nervous guy' act up, which wasn't hard with the huge man in front of him.

"K, Cart, you can call me 'Marty'. You can calm down. The worst that can happen is you flunk out and you get sent home," Marty comforted.

"So that'd be it? I'd flunk out and go home? I won't get killed on the way there would I?" Wally asked.

"Nah. Just keep you mouth shut and no one will come after ya." Marty smiled as he closed the door to the private room. There were a couple of chairs and a small desk. On the desk, Wally could see a small recording device. Marty had him sit in the chair on the other side of the desk then the one he took himself.

"So what now?" Wally asked as Marty started the recorder.

"We see if you're smart enough." Marty smirked. The IQ test was pretty easy while at the same time being extremely difficult. But by the end of it, Marty had done a few calculations on an iPad that was hidden away in a desk drawer and smiled at him.

"Good news, Cart." he stood and rose his hand to Wally. "You're above the average. In fact, you're IQ is pretty impressive. You're in."

"Neat!" Wally cried out with enthusiasm, he didn't have to fake it either, he was truly ecstatic to be one step closer to finding his best friend. Wally and Marty left the rooms and Marty lead him to a door on the opposite side from the exit. Looking around, Wally couldn't see Roy anywhere, but he did spot Artemus and Konnor in line. He gave them a thumbs up as they walked out.


	8. The Other Other-side

Riddler was setting things up for his newest play against Batman. All he needed now was the riddle. Riddle had already decided on the delivery, and that was the part more important then the clue for once. He sometimes loved making the riddle not the riddle, but the act behind the riddle.

He made his way to the sidekick's cell. Upon entering, he saw that they had someone in the cage with him sitting next to the boy wonder almost casually.

"What is the meaning behind this?" He asked the head of the guard.

"Sir, we're running out of ways to keep him awake. We've been taking turns going in to try and do a better job of it," Jacob replied.

"Better job? She's a sleep as well!" Riddler roared. The girl in the cage jumped slightly as she was startled awake. She then smacked Robin upside his head to rouse him as well.

"My apologies sir, the day shift group haven't arrived yet. My men are tired."

"They're tired? GO GET A SHOT OF EPRESSO THEN! I want that boy awake twenty-four seven! You hear me?" Riddler screamed. "Now open the cage! I need the boy for something. You two!" Riddler pointed at two random guards, "You coming with, I want you to carry him back with me."

* * *

 

Robin could barely feel himself being picked up, he looked over at the faces of the ones carrying him and saw Zeb and Kylie. He let himself relax a little in their arms as they carried him to another room. They were gentle enough, he actually fell back asleep. He felt rest for almost a solid minute before he was tossed to the ground harshly and he was forced to open his eyes.

"WAKE UP!" Riddle screamed into his ear. "You awake? Good! I need you to tell a riddle for me, BatBrat."

"Why did the Riddler go to jail-"

"Not now!" Riddler shouted. Robin smirked, impressed in himself for still being able to come up with wise cracks when he would much rather be unconscious. This really was the most brutal kidnapping he's ever face. His head was swimming, his vision kept blurring, he was felling numb all over, and then the hallucinations would come and go. There was a whole hour where he swore he could see sound!

"This is the riddle I want you to read it out once you're done with hair and make up." Riddle held up a piece of paper with a very fine handwriting was spelling out what Robin supposed was words. But his vision was too blurred to actually read it. Then something else the Riddler said caught up to him.

"Hair and Make up?" Robin looked confused for a moment until Riddler's fist came to connect to his face, and suddenly Robin's face didn't feel nearly numb enough.

* * *

 

Wally was lead to an abandoned hotel near the back of crime alley. There were quite a few people hanging around just loitering. Each one not looking like the type of person you'd find in a gardening club.

"What are we doing here?" He asked Marty.

"Here's you're new diggs, Cart." Marty smiled as he lead the ginger inside.

"My new diggs?" Wally looked a bit worried.

"Yeah. Well, until you can be trusted, here's where you live. Don't worry, the kids here are usually level tempered. " Marty took Wally up the stairs to the third floor. "I pulled a couple of strings though, and got you as close to the ground floor as I could. The elevator doesn't work ya see."

"Thanks, but, why would you do that for me?" Wally asked confused. Marty snickered.

"You're my first recruit to pass, Cart, congrats! And I've been at this for a few months already."

"It didn't seem that hard, . . ."

"That's cause you're like a genius, Man! You'll be one of the bosses favorites for sure. So, I mean, you not just the first kid I've officially recruited, but you also broke, like a shit load of records!" Marty was grinning ear to ear, "Man, you can just look to me to be your new best friend!"

"That's great, but, what about Ken? He came with me when we arrived, he's been my pal since kindergarten," Wally lied.

"Oh, I guess we can check that up in the morning. Anyway, here's my number, if you need anything, just let me know. You also need to be down in the lobby by seven, in the morning. So I suggest you get your sleep. the rooms aren't much, but it's only for a couple of days. So do good to follow orders, don't worry if you aren't athletic all that much, most kids here aren't. So I'll see ya later." With that Marty left the hotel, and a good chunk of Wally's hope.

The speedster sat on the lumpy bed as he tried to think through what to do next. He really only needed about four hours of sleep and it was only ten in the evening. He decided to sneak out for a bit. He opened his window and looked around. There were a few more loiters and a couple of kids sitting on their window seals for a smoke. So going out there wasn't going to work. He closed the window back up when his new neighbor's smoke started to drift toward his room with the wind. Well, that was a bust. How about the roof? He figured he might as well try.

Wally made his way out of the room and down the hall. If he could get to the roof, then he could dash to the next building over and zip away undetected. He was already climbing the stairs to get there, only doing a half jog of a normal person in case someone came into the stair well. Which turned out to be a wise move as some chick happened to be right at the roof entrance.

"Slow down Speedy, what's your rush?" She asked with a smirk.

"You do know that Speedy was the one with the arrows, right?" He asked somewhat irritated.

"Um, I guess? I don't really pay the hero's much attention. Bit of advice, you shouldn't either. Makes the job easier." She smiled. "Heading to the roof?" She asked.

  
"Y-yeah" Wally nodded as the girl opened the roof door. Well, he could try to wait her out and head out before midnight, hopefully.

"My name's Calisa, by the way," She introduced herself as she lead the way to the roof.

"Carter," Wally gave his fake name sort of disheartened.

"So Carter, what brings you to the Riddlettes?" Calisa leaned against the ledge of the roof.

"Need quick cash," Wally shrugged.

"That all?" Calisa looked surprised.

"Yup." Wally lied, "What about you?"

"Got kicked out of medical school because someone started a rumor that I was sleeping with the Dean. He wanted to save face and I was too pretty for my own good. Sadly when I was kicked out, no other school would look at me, nor any hospital, chiropractic, clinic, and all the rest. This is the only way I can make a living," Calisa revealed. "So wanna tell me the real reason you're here, because 'quick cash' is pretty much the base line for everyone here." She smirked.

Wally was taken aback. This Calisa chick reminded him a bit of Black Canary.

"Um, actually, I was hoping to meet up with a bud of mine. He sort of got mixed up with the group a few days back. I was really hoping to see him," Wally admitted, bending the truth a bit.

"So why lie?" Calisa asked.

"Well, it's kinda a sissy reason, isn't it?" Wally asked.

"Nah, I think it's sweet." Calisa winked at the hero. "So how old are ya, Cart?"

"I'll answer that if you do," Wally challenged.

"27, now spill." Calisa smirked.

"Wow, I'm 17." Wally scratched the back of his neck. He never expected people to be, this friendly, or open. Calisa and Marty were rewriting his definition of 'bad guy'.

"Where's your family, Carter?" Calisa asked as she pulled two cans of soda from her bag. Wally took one wearily.

"Um, well," Wally tried to think on his feet, something believable was usually not all that extravagant. "Well, my parents aren't around anymore, and everyone kind of just forgot me over a time." Wally tried to make it sound like guarded truth, when he was lying out of his ass.

"That sucks." Calisa nodded buying it. She took a swig of her coke and lay down on the ledge.

"So you have family?" Wally asked.

"Not really. House fire took my sis, my ma went wacko after it. Dad had to emit her to Arkham before too long. When he couldn't afford to keep her there, he slammed the car into the side of Gotham city bridge with him still in it. Problem was he failed at making it look like an accident, and so we were denied the life insurance," Calisa explained. "I was going to become a Doctor because it pays well, and I'd become closer to helping my ma."

"Wow, that's, pretty awful." Wally sat at her feet on the ledge. "Really unlucky."

"Well, without bad luck there'd be no luck at all." Calisa sat up. "I'm not too upset though, can't let it get ya down. I'm able to afford my ma's care with this job, and sometimes all the job requires is to be ready with a quick riddle or to go vandalize some property. Like the message on Wayne Industries? My boyfriend Sid was one of those guys." Calisa smiled proudly.

"Really." Wally forced himself to sound impressed, when he really would rather tell her off for the vandal.

"Yep. He said he was really nervous about jumping off the side, he was certain the cord was going to snap the moment he did. He could be a real coward sometimes." Calisa snickered. "But after he did jump, he swore it felt like flying, just downward. Of course I laughed at him reminding him that's what falling is."

"So, what all have you done?" Wally asked, wondering if he shouldn't have.

"Well, other then tear up a couple shops or getting my ass handed to me by either other gang members or Batman himself, I didn't really hit my break until recently." Calisa grinned widely.

"You've gone rounds with Batman?" Wally asked doubtfully.

"What? You don't think I could?" Calisa asked sitting up. "I mean, look at these hams!" She flexed her arms in the typical strong man pose.

"Nope," Wally laughed.

"Yeah, you're right. I stepped between him and Riddler with a couple others and the big guy just sent us flying with one sweep of his arm," Calisa admitted with a light laugh, mimicking the sweeping motion with her own arm.

"How'd you avoid arrest?" Wally asked, actually fascinated. Not often you got to hear it form the 'minions' point of view.

"Well, it's actually when I met Sid. Being the typical coward he had hung back, but when he saw that I was only a little out of it, he took the opportunity while Bats was distracted by Riddler, and we high tailed it back here," Calisa explained.

"Smooth." Wally grinned.

"Like sandpaper." Calisa rose her coke in a mock salute and took a huge swig of it. Wally finally opened his and drank half of it in one go.


	9. Breakability

The video started and through the crappy quality, the image of a thirteen year old boy, beaten bloody and barely conscious came in view.

"Now say it."

The boy made small murmuring sounds, none of which were audible.

"Louder!" a green boot kicked the kid, moving the camera to at the floor in the process, but the sob the boy made when kicked was clear.

"Wha- do y- ugh, ge- whe-," the boy feel silent for a second before a green glove slapped him, hard. Tears started to fall then.

"AGAIN!"

"What do you get, when yo cross a bus with a, a," one of the people holding the boy up whispered something in his ear, "wi a crash!"

"Oh you've ruined the riddle Boy blunder." Riddler turned the camera to himself and smirked. "What do you get, when you cross a bus, with a cross road? Figure it out, or save your precious side kick, Batman!" the video cut to black and a black gloved fist connected the screen breaking the glass.

"Master Batman?" Alfred called out to his employer.

"Batman?" Megan asked from behind him.

"Damn him," Batman growled low.

"What's a crash have to do with a bus and a cross road?" Konnor asked.

"It sounds like the Riddler's stretching," Artemis muttered.

"How do you figure?" Roy asked with a bitterly.

"The riddle was poor and it was obvious that, well," Artemis looked worried.

"The riddle wasn't the point, he just wanted me to see Robin. Broken and beaten in more ways then one," He growled.

"He looked-," Megan couldn't get herself to finish the thought they were all sharing. 'Robin looked scared'. It was horrible to fell weak, but that feeling tripled upon seeing Robin with tears and sobs.

"It's mostly due to the sleep deprivation, I am certain," Kaldur tried to add.

"That doesn't exactly help, Kal," Roy muttered.

"Might I ask why you all are here, and not infiltrating Riddler's ranks?" Batman snapped at the teens.

The room was silent for a moment before Megan whispered.

"It's my fault, Sir. I was caught and it caused a riot," Megan stared at the ground with tears welling up in her own eyes.

"How?" Batman demanded.

"Some jerk was screwing around with a zippo in front of her and she fainted." Konnor took a step between Megan and Batman.  
Bruce just sighed and went back to the computer.

"All is not lost. One of us did manage to get in," Kaldur pointed out.

"And we lost contact with him almost immediately as he did," Batman growled. "So now we're missing two of your teammates." Everyone went silent for a second time.

* * *

 

"Hey Mondungous! Get over here." Some guy called Wally over. He was one of the senior riddlettes that was training Wally's group. And yet again, he was actually pretty decent. Sure he barked orders like a drill sergeant, but he wasn't overly taxed with restriction, exercise, or even keeping kids moving. Marty had found him again and explained that Riddler didn't care for soldiers. He just wanted competent people to do everything he told them to. So if they were lazy through training, that just meant they were lower on the chain. Later, Wally found Calisa and she admitted she bullshitted through the training stuff, but if you wanted to be in one of the boss's main guards, you better take that shit seriously. She also shared a well kept secret that diligence also paid more.

"Yes Brooks?" he asked as he came up to the man in charge.

"This is Bethany. She's here for my best of this team. You're it. Congrats." Brooks winked at him and left the two alone.

"Hello, Mondungous. It's pleasure to meet you." Bethany stretched her hand out to him.

"You can just call me Cart," Wally muttered.

"Well, Cart." Bethany smiled, "I'm here to bring a new recruit to the big leagues. Ready to meet the big man?" Wally had to swallow hard. Everyone here spoke about him like he was the biggest teddy bear and seemed to shrug off any notion that the Riddler could be cruel beyond belief.

"Heyo, mind if I join your party? I just got called in again." Calisa came up to the two of them. Bethany tensed and her smile became obviously fake.

"Of course, Cal, the more the merrier." she turned on her heel and marched toward a very non-descript car.

"Trust me kid, you do NOT want to get stuck alone with that girl," Calisa whispered as they followed.

"What's wrong with her?" Wally asked.

"Oh nothing. she just has a habit of throwing riddlettes under the bus. Every team she's ever been on has met an untimely demise," Calisa explained just before they came up to the car. "Take the back with me," She advised and the two of them squeezed in the back of the car and Bethany rolled her eyes as she started driving.

As they drove, Wally paid close attention to where they were going. He could see that they were going deeper into crime alley until they reached an parking lot a little over a couple of miles from the hotel. "Come along now," Bethany snapped at the two of them.

"Okay, I get why you don't like her, but-,"

"Why is she such a bitch to me?" Calisa finished for him. "Because I basically cheated. I wasn't suppose to be much more then a foot solider, but I was one of the ones that brought in the Batmobile a few days ago. I mentioned to one of the other's that I was a psychiatric and Riddler put me in charge of keeping Robin alive," Calisa explained as they left the car.

"What?" Wally's eyes went wide. This girl, who given had crappy luck and got a bad break, was actually pretty cool, had been directly involved in the kidnapping his best friend!

"Yup. Come on now." Wally was again surprised by Calisa. Instead of seeming as pride about her hand in Robin's abduction as she was in getting almost knocked out by Batman, she seemed kind of, disappointed.

Wally followed the two into an old shop that had a bus stop right outside on the corner. The women lead him to the back where a service elevator had been installed. Bethany punched in a number and the lift began descending into the ground.

"Aren't you excited, Cart?" Calisa asked.

"Can't see why he shouldn't be," Bethany sneered. Calisa just rolled her eyes.

"So are we parting ways with you once we get there?" Wally asked.

"Hu? Well, I, I guess so," Calisa shrugged. "Don't worry. I'll see ya back at the hotel tonight." She nudged his shoulder. Wally tried to smile but could manage more then a nod.

* * *

 

Robin was back in his cage, he hurt all over, he was sobbing nonstop now and he hated it. The more he sobbed the more he got frustrated with himself and the more frustrated he got the more he sobbed. He just couldn't pull himself together. So he got kicked around a bit? He's been tortured, gassed, stabbed, shot, poisoned, beat to an inch of his life, and not once did he shed a tear, but he gets slapped around a bit after a week of no real rest? He becomes a waterfall of tears, snot, and blubbering emotion. He was curled up in a ball at the back of his cage in Sandra's corner. Surprisingly she was the most sympathetic to him given she was the one who use to call him 'it'.

"Here kid." She handed him another tissue from the pocket Kleenex bag that she had. She explained that her siblings were cry babies sometimes and she had long since learned to be prepared.

Robin took it and cleaned his face for the fifth time since getting back. He muttered thanks yet again through sobs and was actually able to calm down a bit finally. He use to think the man he hated the most on the earth was Joker, followed closely by Tony Zocco. But Riddler had officially made the top of the list.

"Is he alright?" Jacob asked from the opposite side of the cage.

"Barely," Sandra replied.

"I doubt it. The boss was down right brutal," Kylie spoke softly. She looked at him sadly. Robin had yet to thank her for whispering the rest of the riddle to him even though he said something completely different. He was so tired, for some reason his mind thought his words were better instead.

"Calisa should be here in a bit to look him over," Jacob sighed.


	10. Hi / Bye

Bethany lead Wally and Calisa to an office.

"I'll wait right out here," Cal whispered to Wally.

"Shouldn't you go check on the prisoner?" Bethany sneered.

"He's fine, just a bit of rest and he'll be good as new." Calisa smirked.

"Wasn't that the point of not letting him rest?" Bethany glared.

"Whelp, looks like the poor bird is doomed. I'll go check and see how long he's got in a mo," Calisa said leaning against the walls.

"Whatever." Bethany knocked and opened the door when she heard 'come in' form the other side. Wally swallowed again as he was lead into the dark office that was lit by a green flood light. He wondered how Riddler got anything done with such poor lighting? Maybe he turned the real lights off when he had company for intimidation purposes. Would make since as he was a bad guy and such. Maybe he'd turnout like his minions, rewriting his definition of evil villain master mind and such.

"Brittany." the tall, thin, and greasy villain leaned over the desk in his green leotard.

"Bethany, Sir," the girl corrected.

"Like I CARE!" Riddler groaned and sat back in his chair. Nope, he was every bit as awful in person as all other evil wakos Kid Flash had faced.

"Sir, the top recruit this month. Carter Mondungous," Bethany introduced Wally and he took a step forward.

"Congrats," Riddler muttered with disinterest.

"Um, thank you Sir, it's an honor to -," Wally started off, trying to shmooze the psychopath.

"Shut up, You can go into Cybernetics with the rest of the team. Get him the schedule and the access codes." Riddler waved them off.

"Yes, Sir," Bethany responded and started to shove Wally out of the room. "Alright. I'm going to go get your gear and codes. Stick with Calisa so I know where you are when I have them." Bethany leered at Cal and walked away.

"And she thinks I hate babysitting." Calisa smirked as she wrapped an arm around Wally's shoulder. "Wanna meet Wonder Boy?" She asked as she lead him back down the other hall.

"Would I?" Wally sighed and smiled broadly. 'Finally! I'm coming Dick!'

* * *

 

Robin was still in his corner, in his little ball, but he had stopped crying. Oren and Zeb had joined Sandra's corner and the three of the were sitting with Robin keeping him awake as they tried to keep him calm. Robin knew they were trying to keep him awake because Riddler had told them to, but he was grateful for the distractions in his forced consciousness. Suddenly the door opened and all three of them shot to their feet and went straight to their posts. Robin frowned and prayed that Riddler wasn't back for him.

"Robin?" the familiar voice came out. It was the pediatric that had been taking care of him. Robin was okay with her, she was nice, though he couldn't really understand why someone so smart would be with the Riddlettes. He turned to face her as he knew she was there to make sure he was alright, or as alright as he could get. When he turned to look at them he swore the kid that was with her looked just like his best friend, Wally.

"Who?" He asked pointing right at the kid.

"This is Cart, he's a new recruit. He's a fan." Calisa winked as she started looking him over.

"Lucky me," Robin muttered as he let the women look him over.

"He looks horrible," Cart muttered. He sounded worried. So maybe he was another real person whom got a bad break?

"Well, that's what happens when you get on the bad side of bad men," Calisa shrugged. "Looks like he'll live for a little while longer, though if I was an actual doctor with an actual patient, I'd suggest a crap ton of rest. Fuck, it kinda breaks my heart." Calisa stood and started for the door of the cage.

"Later, Robin," Cart said. Robin watched as the guy followed Calisa out of the room. 'Later'?

* * *

Wally hoped Robin understood. He seemed really out of it.

"There you are. Here's your new uniform, your work schedule, and your access key." Bethany unloaded the stuff she was holding onto Wally, who almost dropped it all.

"Great! Well, the prisoner will live another day and we are done for this one. Ready to head back?" Calisa asked.

"Yeah. I'm good," Wally muttered. He needed to get ahold of Batman. He found Robin, and he had a way to get to him.

* * *

Batman checked the email account again in hopes that Kid Flash's email had brought something in. He saw there was a message from a 'MartianZooks '. Batman clicked it wondering if it had any useful information in it.

'Hey Cart! It's Marty! i heard that u got to meet the big boss man 2day. I shoulda warned u, that dude is CRAY! But hell, he pays good. Cal txtd me before u guys went out. I have 2 agree w/ her, watch ur back around that Beth chick. Shes the type of person that you just can't trust. Unless u trust her to stab u in da back, then trust away. lol. Welp, i'm headin out on a mission which is why i couldn't meet ya n person. It seems that I'm to send a message 2 our favorit animal dude, that BatMan.

Hey I never told you about my story did i? we always mentioned it but I never actually told u. Well, i have 2 lil brothers a home, see? and they are the worlds most annoying lil brats, but u can't help but love 'em. Well, they sorta need medical attantion, they were born twins, but they were also born with a respitory problem. That med shit is expesinsive yo! My parents, they tried 2 gamble and win the money when they couldn't get better work. hell, my mom got fired from her job for 'being a distraction' 2 the men n her work place. Well, they lost what little we had and they decided they wanted to get that money 4 my bros treatments. They robbed a bank and got caught. They're currently surving time n the penatentry. So me being of age, i got my lil bros to look after and also have to pay 4 their treatments outta my own pocket. thats when i met brooks! you remember him? well, he was n recruting the time and thats how i got here.

u must b wonderin y im sendin all this now.

well. i just got a big mission, and well, i might not come back from it. a friend is going to take care of my bros until my parents get out, and the money i get from this job will pay 4 their treatments for the next 4 years!

That and, you were pretty awesome dude. a good friend. im glade we met, even though it's only been like 3 days.

later Cart.

Marty out.'

Batman checked the message for any possible code behind it and then closed out. 'Marty' would have to wait, Batman was getting worried. He thought about the beginning of the message, Wally met the Riddler, as well as someone dangerous in the Riddler's ranks.

Things were probably getting tricky for the kid, but hopefully he won't let Batman down. Won't let Robin down. Bruce pulled off his cowl as he was alone in the cave, and actually allowed himself one secret moment of weakness.


	11. He Did What?

Riddler sat at his desk in the dark, he had set up a collision to happen in Gotham financial district. He was going to have one of his little minions hijack a city bus and another hijack a semi. They would meet in the middle and collide. It might actually kill a few people, unless the Batman was going to ignore his partner's situation and got after the bus instead of following the riddle farther and finding his little protege.

He snickered. He rummaged through his employee files and randomly selected the two he'd need for the job.

"BRISTANY!" He called. the dark haired girl came back into the office.

"Bethany, Sir." The girl sassed. Riddler ignored her.

"I want these files given to these two men. I don't care who gets which, make sure it happens." Riddler ordered.

Bethany nodded and took the files from her boss. She looked at them the moment she was out of the office and froze. Who ever did this task could easily end up hospitalized or worse. She quickly looked at whom Riddler had picked for the job and nodded to herself. Whelp, too bad for them. She shrugged.

* * *

Wally had gotten up early that morning and he made his way to the roof. Finally alone. He had kept trying at different times of the night and there had always been at least one other person there, and he worried he'd blow his cover and they ended up needing him back within the ranks. He quickly made his way out of crime alley and straight to the Batcave. He zoomed right by every censor, setting off a few alarms in the process. He didn't care, he knew Bats wouldn't mind. they both knew what his arrival meant.

Just as he assumed, Batman was standing ready to go.

"I know where Robin is!" Wally blurted out.

* * *

Robin adjusted the blue pillow Leslie had brought from home that night. He was grateful, if barely, thanking her dryly as he went back to Sandra's corner and propped the pillow against the bars and sat in his now usual spot. Somehow he had grown to favor Sandra out of everyone in the group, but he still talked to everyone. Well, close to everyone.

"Hey, what are you're names? You two never talk. It's getting irritating," Robin growled at that only two guys he didn't know the names of.

"I mean, I know Jacob, Leslie, Kylie, Zeb, Oren, and Sandra. So who the hell are you?" He listed the other guards in counter clockwise order around the cage.

"Hey, Brat, don't be mean to Nortave. They haven't done anything to you." Sandra whacked Robin on the head with her staff.

"Sorry," Robin muttered. "Who's Nortave?" He asked, scrunching his nose to the name.

"That's Norten, and that's David. They happen to be an item, so we did the whole 'Bradgalina' thing and mixed their names." Sandra shrugged.

"Oh. Why don't you guys ever talk? Are you like, oh so loyal to Riddler?" Robin asked.

"It's nothing like that," Norten said quietly, his voice was so soft Robin had to strain his ears to hear, given he had a headache of a life time and his ears were already ringing that did nothing for his mood.

"Whatever," He muttered.

"Brat. You need a nap," Lesile called from the other end of the cage.

"Really? I would have never guess! Let me just take this comfy pillow and pass out for a bit. Oh wait, if I do I get jabbed, kicked, drowned, or shaken til my brain's rattling," Robin listed on his fingers the past wake up calls.

"I'm actually debating letting him a fifteen minute sleep if it'd just shut him up," Jacob growled.

"He's just cranky. Just wait it out and sobby Robby should come back full circle any minute now," Oren grinned.

"Do you really have to call me that?" Robin grumbled.

"Stop being a little dick and I will."

"What?!" Robin looked at Oren like he slapped him.

"Well, that's what you're being. So stop being a prick and I won't call you Sobby Robby. Deal?" Oren asked.

"Um, y-yeah. Sure." Robin glared at him until he was certain that it was just a coincidence as he leaned back against the pillow again. He really wasn't meaning to be rude, but damn he was just in a really bad mood. And he was just too tired to do anything about it.


	12. So Close

After Kid Flash had come in to give his report and the very much needed information, an alarm had gone off showing that a Bus and a Semi had both been hijacked. When Batman check the addresses the multiple calls had reported seeing the speeding vehicles, it was easy to see they were heading straight for each other rather quickly. If they were left the their devices the crash could kill and wound a lot of people. Knowing what the Riddler as after in doing this, Batman had assembled the team to go after Robin while he went to stop the collision on his batcycle. Sometimes, it was best to let the bad guy think he won.

He managed to find the Semi just as it speed past, be was having difficulty actually catching up. He was ganging on it slowly and he started to worry he might not get to it before the crash. Batman shot a grapple into the back of the truck's load and managed to use it to practically fly on to the container. The moment he pulled himself on top, however, a small explosion separated the connection between the Semi and it's load. Batman went flying in the other direction and just barely missed being crushed by the containment unit. He signaled for his Batcycle and yet again raced off in hopes of stopping a potentially deadly encounter.

Just as Batman caught up again, the Semi slowing down only slightly, possibly to make sure to tie the crash just right, they neared an intersection, a cross road, where Batman could hear another vehicle speeding to meet them. The bus no doubt.

Batman threw a batarang into the Semi's tires, and succeeded in blowing the back two from the right side. They were too close though, and the Semi driver managed to use the drift caused by the unstable turning, to still make it to the intersection just as the bus went through.

The Bus crashed front first into the driver side of the Semi, just before Batman could doing anything to stop it.

* * *

Kid Flash lead Superboy, Artemis, Aqualad, Miss Martian, and Red Arrow to the shop on the corner with the bus stop just out side.

"What do you get when you cross a Bus with a Cross Road," Artemis muttered out loud as they walked up.

"Um? An Address?" Kid Flash asked as he lead them inside.

"Told you he was stretching," Artemis said to Red Arrow, who just rolled his eyes and cocked an arrow in his bow.

"Keep on your guard," He ordered as they boarded the lift in the back. Wally punched in the number he saw Bethany use and they began to descend.

"Why does this feel too easy?" Superboy asked as they stopped at an empty hallway.

"Because these guys don't really care for their jobs. It's all just easy cash to them. Well, most of them anyway. Trust me, it's about to get difficult. There's guards all around his cage," Kid Flash explained.

"Cage?" Miss Martian gasped.

"Halt!" A Riddlette whom was just passing the hallway stopped at the end and pointed their staff at the group of young heroes.

"Yeah, Dude, you're not going to win this one," Kid Flash smirked.

"Guys! Down here!" The guard called for back up just as Red Arrow shot the taser arrow from his bow. The guard fell to the ground unconscious, but not before his team had came running down the hall in response to the call.

"See? Told ya it was going to-"

"Yeah, yeah, we get it, not too easy anymore. Shut up and fight!" Artemis cut Kid Flash off form his quip and started to shoot tranquilizer arrows at the riddlettes coming their way.

* * *

 

"You guys hear that?" Kylie asked the others as the sounds of pain grunts and pounding against walls could be heard through the walls.

"I guess Batman's found us," Zeb shrugged.

"Suppose that mean's you'll get to go home, Brat. Don't go forgetting us after Daddybats buries us alive," Sandra joked.

"This isn't good guys, you know he's going to pound us big time the moment he walks through that door!"

"Don't be a pussy, Jacob," Leslie smirked, "Hey Brat, ready to get a decent night's sleep? Brat?"

Robin hadn't really heard any of them. He hadn't been feeling very active, or alive at all that day. As in, even less the the day before. He felt really light and even though his body ached and hurt all over, he also felt so completely numb it was confusing. He couldn't bring himself to talk, and he hadn't moved from the spot beside Sandra since Leslie brought him the pillow. even the bread and water he got for meals was still sitting at his feet, untouched. He's eyes were closed and he could tell that this time he wasn't going to be easily woken up.

"Um, should we wake him up?" Oren asked.

"Why bother? He's going to get rescued the moment Bats figures out which room we're in," Zeb shrugged.

"Guess you've got a point there." Oren scratched the back of his neck.

"I don't know about you guys, but I really don't want to get put in a body cast for the next six months," Jacob tried again.

"If you're going to chicken out, just throw the keys at the guy and run away," Kylie snickered.

"Those sounds are getting louder," Norten spoke for the second time since he had been put on the mission of guarding Robin.

"Guys, we have a bigger problem!" Sandra called out from where she was bent next to the caged bird.

"What could possibly be a bigger problem then Batman right now?" Jacob snapped.

"The Brat's barely breathing! I think his body's actually shutting down!" Sandra called.

"Calisa said he'd be just fine," Leslie said looking shocked.

"No, she said he didn't have long without rest, but a nap would do him good," Oren reminded.

"Oh God! Bats is going to kill us! His son is dead and he's going to kill us!" Jacob looked close to a panic attack.

"How are you the leader again?" Kylie asked looking at Jacob like he was stupid.

"Open the cage, I'm going to see if I can help the Brat!" Sandra stood and made her way around the cage. Okay, she'll be the first to admit it, she had grown to like the kid, and she wasn't going to just let him die right before he was saved. Sure, she was in the wrong business for that bleeding heart sort of crap, but screw that now. Her Brat needed help.


	13. Finally

The paramedics were tending to those wounded in the crash. As it just so happened, the Riddlette's did more damage to themselves then anyone else. A few people had some bumps and bruises from being jostled in the bus during the crash, but the only ones really hurt were the drivers. Batman made sure to get their names before they were taken to the hospital. The driver of the Semi was Martian Zooks, the man who messaged Wally, and then bus driver was a guy named Siddith Leroy. Both looked to be in pretty bad condition when being driven off. The vigilante couldn't help the feel of gratification in knowing they were badly hurt.

"Alfred, any news from the team?" He asked into his com-link as he mounted his bike once again.

"Indeed sir, they are wrapping things up nicely, or that is what Red Arrow had reported a bit ago, sir. The background was rather loud though, I must admit," Alfred replied from the other end.

"Give me their location, I'm going in as back up," Batman ordered, 'wither they need it or not' he added in his mind.

* * *

The Team had been doing very well, as the Riddlettes really weren't trained to truly fight so much as get in the way.

"Yep, still way to easy," Superboy muttered as he used one of the guards to knock down a few others in a way the very much resembled bowling.

"Where's the Riddler?" Red Arrow growled.

"He's not here, I'm afraid. Can I take a messaged?" Bethany walked up to the group and placed her hands to her hips.

"Yeah. Tell him to never even think about kidnapping Robin again!" Miss Martian yelled as she used her telekinesis to throw Bethany against a wall.

"I may have to write it down," Bethany growled as he reached for a gun. "Then again, I'm sure the message with have been terminated by then!" She called as she pulled the trigger. Superboy had stepped in front of Miss Martian just before Bethany shot and the alien girl was saved. Kid Flash rounded the Kyptonian and came up behind Bethany.

"You know, I liked you better before you pulled the gun," He muttered before knocking her out. "Come on, Rob's this way!"

* * *

Sandra wasn't sure what to do, Robin's breathing had become shallow and she wasn't exactly a doctor. She hopped Bats would hurry up already if he was going to pick up his bird, because Robin was seriously in some trouble.

"Someone go check and see if the hero's fucking lost!" She growled over her shoulder as she tucked the pillow under Robin's head.

"No need." A foreign voice came from the door. Sandra looked over and saw a bunch of kids in bright colored costumes "We're already here."

"Great! Now grab and scat! He needs a hospital!" Sandra shouted.

"Sandy! Don't wake him up!" Kylie called through the bars worriedly.

"He's not going to wake up for nothing right now, which is why the brats need to get him out of here!" Sandra snapped at her.

"Wait, you're just going to give him to us?" Miss Martian asked.

"I don't trust them, it has to be a trick." Red Arrow glared and cocked an arrow.

"Are you freaks really going to waste time with this?" Zeb called from behind the cage.

"Yeah, just get him and head out already!" Oren jumped in.

"If he dies because we were too worried to play with you, you'll soon be meeting up with him afterwards!" Leslie threatened.

"Excuse them. Robin had sorta grown on us all. They really are just worried," Jacob explained. "Really, we can get out of the way if it'd make you guys feel better about it, but seriously, the kid needs help," He added.

"I'll believe you," Kid Flash said as he walked up to the riddlettes and entered the cage. Superboy followed figuring that it was save enough, not like the other minions were all that impressive.

"I just got word from Agent A, Batman is on his way. Seems like he couldn't wait," Red Arrow informed the others.

"Oh God. Please, take him and get out of here then!" Jacob paled.

"Yeah, our fearless leader here has an phobia of men dressed as giant bats," Kylie snickered.

"I almost got sent to the hospital by that guy!" Jacob cried out.

"Well, That's what happens when you get on the bad side of good men," Kid Flash smirked.

"Hey! You're that kid Calisa brought in!" Oren shouted. "You little shit, tossing her words back at us," he laughed. It was obvious he wasn't truly intending to insult the young hero with his words.

"Oh, um, later!" Kid Flash zipped out of the room followed from a distance the other hero's. Red Arrow was right and just as they exited out of the shop, Batman had pulled up on his bike. They gave him Robin and Batman drove off to the hospital, Robin tucked in front of him.

* * *

Sandra was still sitting in the cage as the rest of the room went silent.

"So our Brat's gone, huh?" Oren was the first to speak.

"Well, it's not like we thought he'd be here forever," Jacob replied.

"Yeah, but, I don't know. I guess I just wasn't prepared for it, you know?" Oren explained. Jacob sighed.

"Yeah. I know. he was pretty cool kid."

"For a hero," Leslie added.

"For a hero," Jacob agreed with a chuckle.


	14. Closed Ending Epilog

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I have both A Closed Ending and An Open Ending.

It was a week later and Robin had just been released from the hospital, and met up with Kid Flash in the hospital, lobby before they headed out to the cemetery. There they met up with a few familiar faces standing around a grave.

"Hey, Brat." Sandra smiled at him.

"Hey guys." Robin smiled.

"How are you feeling, Kid?" Kylie asked.

"A lot better," Robin answered.

"Heyo, Cart." Calisa winked at Kid Flash.

"I might as well tell you now, that's not my name," KF chuckled.

"Yeah, I figured after they told me about what happened. But it's what I plan to keep calling you." She smiled.

"How's Sid?" Kid asked with a chuckle.

"Well, he's in jail, but, we all knew that the possibility came with the job. Hell, the more you've been to jail the more bragging rights you have." Cal shrugged. "The trouble will be getting him to shut up about it afterward." Robin and Kid just laughed that one off as they shook their heads.

"So, who is it that we're standing around?" Robin asked.

"A friend," Kid Flash answered.

"A friend?"

"His name was Martian Zooks. But everyone called him Marty. He had two little brothers he loved very much, and he died in a car crash in service of the Riddler," Kid said with a sad smile as he stared at the grave.

"I'm impressed, you even managed to make that last bit almost sound like something to be proud of," Sandra chuckled. "Be we all know it's not."

"Really?" Robin asked teasingly.

"We came into this for cash, not honor," Calisa agreed.

"If you think about it, you can't really have both. Not unless you're Bruce Wayne or the King of England or something," Zeb said, trying to sound deep. He frowned when Kid Flash and Boy Wonder both started snickering.

"Well. I guess we should head back before we're seen with a couple sidekicks," Sandra suggested.

"About that. You're good people, pretty decent actually, just hit a route of bad luck," Robin began, "If It wasn't for you guys, all of you, and the few that didn't show up, I wouldn't be standing here at all. As thanks for that Batman and I can pull some strings and get you guys real jobs, ones that don't make you break the law and go to jail," Robin offered. The riddlettes all smiled and laughed.

"It's a nice offer, Brat, really it is. Tempting, too," Oren said.

"But we've come to terms about our lives, enjoy it even. Sure it's a bit immoral, but we do negate some of the damage toward things and away from people," Leslie finished.

"Huh?" Kid was confused.

"Take Marty and Sid for instance. They were told to crash a Semi and a Bus full of people together. Sid explained it to me before they went that they planned it out so that they followed orders, but the bus would crash in the side of the Semi instead of the other way around. It saved a few people a trip to the hospital. Though Marty's Semi got turned around and the bus hit the drivers side instead of the passenger side," Calisa explained father. "Not saying he should be hailed as a hero, but it did cause less harm."

"Yeah, if we didn't have these jobs then other's would have them instead, and they might not be as nice," Sandra grinned and winked.

"I get it. You guys are sort of like undercover hero's of your own right. Sure you break the law as well as other things, but you at least try to keep other's safe when doing so," Kid spoke with a wide smile.

"Sure, if you wanna read that much into it. More like, we actually have a conscious but we don't really want to 'work' for a living." Kylie smirked.

"Well. Either way. We really should be heading out," Sandra said again before walking up to Robin. "Later, Brat. Maybe we'll kidnap you again soon," she said giving him a hug.

"As much as I enjoyed your company, I really hope not," Robin chuckled and hugged the woman back. The others also went in for an embrace, Kylie, Lesile, Oren, and Zeb. Even Calisa, who managed to get Kid Flash with the other arm and got two Heroes in one go.

"Keep in touch Cart," she laughed as she walked away with the others.

"You know man, only you can get kidnapped and have this degree of reverse Stockholm Syndrome affect his kidnappers," Kid laughed, punching Robin in the arm.

"Yeah. I know," Robin laughed before he started heading the opposite way then the minions.

"So what do you want to do now?" Kid asked.

"To be honest and perfectly predictable?" Robin chuckled, "Sleep."


	15. Open Ending Epilog

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On Fanfiction this is titled 'Alternate Ending' though everyone seemed to prefer this one to the other.

The moment his son was handed to him, Batman tucked the boy in front of him on the bike and sped off without a word toward the hospital. He didn't care at that point who found him but as Bruce Wayne, he just cared that his only son was sick and dying in his arms. Robin was motionless, barely breathing and Batman honestly couldn't tell if he was alive or not. He came close to panic as he pulled up to the emergency entrance, caring the young side kick with him.

A group of paramedics that looked like they were just about to leave instantly rounded on them. The Gotham hero never needed their medical attention before and most of them were honored if not wanted a good story to tell their kids about him. Getting Robin help was easy from there on; after a bit of fussing and Batman threatening anyone who'd even FATHOM looking under Robin's mask. The doctors tried to explain that they needed to see his eyes to assess if the boy had gone into a coma or not. Batman waved them off and told them someone he trusted would be on her way too check anything that had to do with the kid's identity.

Leslie Topkins was running late as she had been caught in traffic. Bruce had called her rather suddenly claiming to have found Robin, whom he had also neglected to tell her was missing in the first place, and that he needed intensive care stat. However, she was on the other side of Gotham at the time and it was the third shift rush hour. By time she managed to arrive at the hospital, the grave faces told her enough.

Batman had his head down and his hand resting onto the back of his head. The young teenaged heroes that Leslie had recently learned were Robin's new teenage group of heroes, each sitting in a manner that said the same thing to her. She was too late.

"I'm here to help Robin, I'm Batman's emergency field doctor." She stood up to one of the white coats.

"Yes, right this way." The doctor lead her to a bright sterile room where a red and black clad kid was laying on the bed with monitors attached. She intently went to the foot of his bed and snatched up the clip board. His brain had started to shut down, he had bruises and cuts all over his body, and his breathing was weak. She flipped the page and saw the final hit. Robin had slipped into a deep coma and might not be waking up from it any time soon.

"What the hell happened?" Leslie looked over at the man beside her.

The man walked over and checked a machine, mostly to keep busy, he was obviously worried. "From what Batman says, the Riddler got a hold of the kid and kept him from sleeping for a little over a week." He looked over to her. "Even I know that a typical person can only last eleven days without true rest."

  
Leslie flipped back through the pages, noted something, and walked up to the boy wonder. She gave a slight glare at the man who then left the room to let the woman work. By the end of it though, she came to the same conclusions. Robin would most likely be laying here for a very long while.

  
When the woman came back into the waiting room where the admittedly strangely dressed group was, now joined by Superman and the Flash, Batman shot to his feet and met Dr. Topkins halfway.

"Please tell me it's not-"

"Before you get your hopes up Br-Batman," Leslie caught herself, it felt strange using that name to chastise the man like she normally did. "The doctors here aren't incompetent, and unfortunately, they are right. Robin's in a deep coma and if he wakes up before the month is out, it'd be a blessed miracle." the woman took a calming breath. She had never approved of this life for Bruce, and she had liked it a thousand times less when he got poor Richard involved. "All we can do now is pray. I'll see about having him released to your care so that you my take care of him back in the cave. I advise against letting him near the upper floor for security purposes, but that's no where near my domain."

Leslie paused as the usually expressionless Batman's face revealed his worry and fear, and her face softened placing a hand on his shoulder, she then said, "He'll be alright, just have faith."

As the older woman left the older Kyptonian placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "I'm sorry I wasn't here to help."

"Don't. You were off world. Doing your job and so was everyone else." Batman gave Flash a look before the other hero could start.

"I'm sorry I didn't leave sooner," Kid Flash muttered from his seat. "If I had just ran the moment I found him-"

"They would have been ready for us and we wouldn't have been able to get him out as safely. Riddler was still there when you first saw him, he could have panicked and killed him the moment you revealed yourself and then you'd be sitting there muttering about how you should have waited like you did," Batman spoke sharply at the boy. No, the kids weren't to blame, and his fellow hero's weren't either.

He was the one who left the boy in the car. He could have easily taken Dick home first before going to that signal and then miss the whole mess. He could have been spending the week easily as quiet as it was, possibly working on a new batmobile, which he had yet to start. He didn't know what Riddler fist planned. But there was a very well hidden self destruct mechanism that could be signaled from either his belt or the cave if a villain got his hands on her.

But no, instead he left Robin in the car. He was in a rush for the next mission. He was careless and it cost him. And now the only thing he could do was pray.

* * *

It was a week later and Kid Flash walked up to a group of rather quiet Riddlettes in the cemetery.

"Hey, how's the brat," the blonde chick that had been trying to save Robin's life asked.

"Not good. He keeps getting weaker," Kid Flash sighed. He looked down at the grave stone they stood around. 'Martian Zooks'. Known by 'Marty' to all his friends, a man who had two brothers, who died while in service to the Riddler. To the man who might very well have killed his best friend. Wally sighed again. He use to not be able to see how any one could work for such a monster. They'd have to be monsters as well, to be able to stomach it. But looking around at the faces of the people around him, he could see that each of them was worried sick over the boy hero.

"How's Sid?" Kid tried to change the topic.

Calisa shook her head. "He's fine. He's in jail, but, he's fine," She muttered. She still had friends in the medical circles, she knew what was up with the bird boy. It surprise her if the kid survived.

"Whelp. This has been fun," The blonde growled and started to walk off. The four behind her followed without a word.

"Well, Cart, keep in touch." Calisa gave him a small smile.

"You know that's not my real name, right?" Wally gave a small smirk back.

"Yeah, well. Get use to it anyway." She placed a hand on his shoulder. "I hope your friend wakes up."

"Me too," Kid Flash sighed.

"And, Cart?"

"Yeah?" KF met her worried eyes.

"For God-sakes, get some sleep."


End file.
